I have been amazed by my class lately. Lessons that would have been a disaster five months ago are going off without a hitch, or at least with only one or two minor ones. We're studying coral reefs for our science expo, and my first graders are listening to tough informational texts, asking great questions, and writing about their learning. When they're done sketching pieces of real coral (borrowed from the great New England Aquarium), they wrap the coral up in plastic. They're more patient with each other--nary an argument spotted during a subtraction lesson with many moving parts, and they have been great about giving each other wait time on the rug.
"You are amazing!" I tell them many times, and then I follow that up with naming whatever amazing thing they're doing. I must be doing something amazing, too! I think, and then I try to figure out what. After all, Boston has had more than its share of snow days, not to mention February break. Did the maturity fairy visit all my first graders on the last night of break?
Today, pondering my class's maturity growth spurt, I looked over at the calendar. And the three birthdays there. And the two birthdays the month before. Good grief! In the span of six weeks, the majority of my class has gone from six years old to seven years old. What a difference a year makes!
I already knew that my class skewed toward the younger half of first grade, thanks to Chip Wood's birthday cluster exercise. If you're new to teaching, or even if you're an old pro, Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages 4-14 is a fantastic read. Children, of course, are too busy growing in seven different directions at once to fall into strict categories, but Yardsticks provides general developmental guidelines. My chattering, tattling, exploring sixes are turning into thoughtful, introspective sevens. Well, at least until they get tired, or itchy, or hungry, or...
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